Shell enters its second decade of global lubricant leadership

Oct 20, 2017

Shell Lubricants has been recognised as the global market leader for the11th consecutive year, marking the start of two decades of undisputed industry leadership. This accolade was confirmed in the recently published Kline & Company’s 15th Edition ‘Global Lubricants Industry: Market Analysis and Assessment: 2016-2026 report. The report covers the sector in 2016.

Shell sells a wide variety of lubricants to meet customer needs across a range of applications including consumer motoring, heavy-duty transport, power generation and general engineering.

Shell held its global market leading position with an 11% market share, in terms of volume– selling 4,400 kilotonnes of finished lubricants. This is equivalent to almost 5 billion litres of finished product. These sales were split almost evenly between sales to the consumer automotive, industrial and commercial automotive sectors.

Huibert Vigeveno, Shell Global Commercial, Executive Vice President (including Shell Lubricants) said: “Shell Lubricants is on a strong growth path across the many markets that we operate in. We are making significant investments into our portfolio of brands, products and services as well to further develop our world class supply chain capabilities. We continue to evolve to meet the opportunities and challenges of a fast-paced business environment, while keeping a sharp focus on developing genuine alliances, developing customer-centric solutions and innovating through research and technology.’’

He further stated ‘’The recognition from Kline & Company signals that we are on the correct path and is a testament to the dedication of our 9,000 employees who are delivering excellent solutions to a diverse portfolio of customers across multiple industries.”

The report found that Shell Lubricants is the market leader in three of the16 individual markets covered in the report: Malaysia, United Kingdom and the United States. The company is also in the top three ranking in ten further markets: Argentina, Canada, China, Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH), Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand.

To cater to the increased demand for lubricants driven by the automotive and industrial sector, Shell has invested in hundreds of millions of dollars in its supply chain and continuously on a journey to upgrade and grow its world class supply chain network. To date it has 40 lube oil blending plants, 5 base oil plants and 10 grease plants. To further align with market demand in Asia, Shell is opening a new Lube Oil Blending Plant (LOBP) and Grease Manufacturing Plant (GMP) in Tuas, Singapore. This strategic move to integrate LOBP and GMP sites will enable the capacity expansion needed to support the expected demand growth in the region.

To find out more about Shell’s capabilities and leadership in lubricants, please see infographic and video.

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Notes to Editors:

We have over 200 scientists and engineers working in specialised technical centres for lubricants in China, Japan (JV), US and Germany. We opened our newest technology centre in Shanghai, China in 2014, dedicated to research and development into lubricants and oils.

Shell is also the first and only lubricant supplier to co-create an efficient city car. The Shell Concept Car is a collaboration between Shell, Geo Technology and Gordon Murray Design. It uses 34% less energy and produces 28% less CO2 compared to a typical city car. The bespoke engine oil alone contributed 5% fuel economy and therefore reduced CO2 emissions correspondingly by 5%. This car is not commercially available.

Shell has had longstanding motorsport technical partnerships with Ferrari (F1), Team Penske (NASCAR and IndyCar), and Ducati (MotoGP) and most recently began collaborating with BMW Motorsport (DTM, USCC, 24-hour Nurburgring) and Hyundai Motorsport (World Rally Championship) within the past decade. Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology is the only motor oil that Ferrari F1, BMW Motorsport DTM and Hyundai i20 WRC cars use. Team Penske uses only ‘off-the-shelf’ Pennzoil Ultra Platinum full synthetic 0W-40 motor oil in all of its Indy cars and cutting edge PurePlus Technology under the hood of its NASCAR cars.

The Kline methodology includes conducting in-depth discussions and personal interviews across an authoritative spectrum of knowledgeable industry insiders. This primary research is supplemented and cross-referenced by secondary research. This approach has proved to be a reliable for obtaining accurate market data and capturing expert insights.

About Shell Lubricants

The term “Shell Lubricants” collectively refers to Shell Group companies engaged in the lubricants business. Shell sells a wide variety of lubricants to meet customer needs across a range of applications. These include consumer motoring, heavy-duty transport, mining, power generation and general engineering. Shell’s portfolio of lubricant brands includes Pennzoil, Quaker State, Shell Helix, Shell Rotella, Shell Tellus and Shell Rimula. We are active across the full lubricant supply chain. We manufacture base oils in five plants; blend base oils with additives to make lubricants in over 40 plants; distribute, market and sell lubricants in over 100 countries. We also provide technical and business support to customers. We offer lubricant-related services in addition to our product range. These include: Shell LubeMatch –the market leading product on-line recommendation tool available in 123 countries in 26 languages, Shell LubeAdvisor - helps customers to select the right lubricant through highly trained Shell technical staff as well as online tools, and Shell LubeAnalyst - an early warning system that enables customers to monitor the condition of their equipment and lubricant, helping to save money on maintenance and avoid potential lost business through equipment failure. Shell’s world-class technology works to deliver value to our customers. Innovation, product application and technical collaboration are at the heart of Shell lubricants. We have leading lubricants research centres in China, Germany, Japan (in a joint venture with Showa Shell), and the USA. We invest significantly in technology and work closely with our customers to develop innovative lubricants. We have a patent portfolio with 150 + patent series for lubricants, base oils and greases; more than 200 scientists and lubricants engineers dedicated to lubricants research and development. Customer benefits include lower maintenance costs, longer equipment life and reduced energy consumption. One of the ways we push the boundaries of lubricant technology is by working closely with top motor racing teams such as Scuderia Ferrari and BMW Motorsport. These technical partnerships enable us to expand our knowledge of lubrication science and transfer cutting-edge technology from the racetrack to our commercial products.

Royal Dutch Shell plc

Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects. For further information, visit www.shell.com

Cautionary Note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this press release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to “joint ventures” and “joint operations” respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov ). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this press release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release 20 October 2017. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

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